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Mathematical modelling of HTLV-I infection: a study of viral persistence in vivo

Human T-lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) is a persistent human retrovirus characterized by life-long infection and risk of developing HAM/TSP, a progressive neurological and inflammatory disease. Despite extensive studies of HTLV-I, a complete understanding of the viral dynamics has been elusive. Previous mathematical models are unable to fully explain experimental observations. Motivated by a new hypothesis for the mechanism of HTLV-I infection, a three dimensional compartmental model of ordinary differential equations is constructed that focusses on the highly dynamic interactions among populations of healthy, latently infected, and actively infected target cells. Results from mathematical and numerical investigations give rise to relevant biological interpretations. Comparisons of these results with experimental observations allow us to assess the validity of the original hypothesis. Our findings provide valuable insights to the infection and persistence of HTLV-I in vivo and motivate future mathematical and experimental work. / Applied Mathematics

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:AEU.10048/1397
Date11 1900
CreatorsLim, Aaron Guanliang
ContributorsLi, Michael Y. (Mathematical and Statistical Sciences), Muldowney, James S. (Mathematical and Statistical Sciences), Wang, Hao (Mathematical and Statistical Sciences), Jutta Preiksaitis (Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases)
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
Format4760770 bytes, application/pdf

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